Sports related eye injuries, including blunt trauma, penetrating eye injuries and radiation related damage are some of the most common modalities of damage to the eye while playing. Sports related eye injuries are a major cause for blindness.
Most of these injuries (almost 90%) can be prevented by the use of protective eyewear, and appropriate precautions, especially during high risk sports.
Therefore, parents, coaches and team physicians must educate athletes about eye and facial protection and encourage them to use protective devices. You must also discuss the specific requirements for each sport with your eye care professional, and use the appropriate protective eyewear.
How common are sports related eye injuries?
Sports related eye injuries are more common than you think. While there is no validated worldwide data, more than 600,000 sports related injuries are reported each year in the United States alone. More than forty thousand of these patients need emergency room attention.
As many as 13,500 of these sports related eye injuries result in a permanent loss of vision. The world over, more than three fourths of sports related injuries affect the young, less than 25 years old (In the US, this is 72%). More than half of these injuries occur in children less than 15 years old (In the US, 42%). Consequently, we must take appropriate precautions to prevent eye injuries.
What are the most common sports related eye injuries?
Blunt trauma
Blunt trauma, as the word implies, is an injury due to something hitting you in the eye. It is the most common eye injury especially in sports that involve balls and shuttles (for example, cricket, badminton, tennis), and in case of contact sports (for example, boxing, wrestling).
Blunt trauma can cause orbital fractures (a broken bone around the eyeball), globe rupture, detached retina, blood in the eye (hyphema), retinal swelling and even glaucoma. Bruising of the eye and eyelid (“black eye”) are external bleeds, and less serious than the injuries mentioned here.
Penetrating injuries
Penetrating injuries are the result of a cut in the eye. These injuries can also happen if your glasses break while you are wearing them.
Radiation related damage
Radiation injuries are common in outdoor sports like skiing and swimming. Exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun can cause both short term, and long term problems in the eyes.
What should I consider before playing sports?
Eye examination
You must get your eyes examined by your eye doctor, especially if you have any retinal problems or have a family history of the same. Your doctor will also assess other risk factors, and thereafter suggest the appropriate protective eyewear in order to prevent sports related eye injuries.
Risk assessment of sports
With respect to eye injuries, sports can be classified as low risk, high risk, and very high risk.
Low-risk sports
These do not use balls, bats, or racquet, and have no body contact. For example, athletics, swimming, gymnastics, diving and cycling.
High-risk sports
High risk sports are the ones where sportsmen play with balls, shuttles, pucks, bats, sticks, racquets. These are also sports that involve body contact. For example, baseball, hockey, cricket, tennis, badminton, table tennis, squash, and fencing.
Very-high-risk sports
Very high risk sports involve physical combat like boxing, wrestling, and contact martial arts.
How can I protect myself from eye injuries?
Your eye doctor can tell you how to protect your eyes for each specific game, in great detail. Broad guidelines, however, include the following:
Wear protective eyeglasses
If you wear protective eyeglasses, they can significantly reduce the number and severity of eye injuries. You should preferably choose 3-mm polycarbonate lenses as protective sports eyewear, with or without the correction needed for refractive errors. That is, you can get these lenses to correct your eye power also, if required.
Polycarbonate lenses are impact resistant, shatter proof and light. They are 10 times more impact resistant than other plastics, and do not reduce vision. Polycarbonate also has built-in ultraviolet protection which is an added advantage when outdoors, and helps prevent radiation related damage also. Consequently, polycarbonates are the material of choice for protective eyewear.
You will need protective gear even if you wear regular glasses or contact lenses as they are not sufficient to protect your eyes from blunt trauma or penetrating injuries.
How should I choose protective eyewear?
Here’s how you should choose your protective eyewear, you must make sure that:
- The frames for these lenses are also made of highly impact-resistant plastic or polycarbonate. These also have a rubber padding to cushion the frame where it comes in contact with the head or the nose area.
- It’s best to choose a style that is contoured, and wraps around your face, and fits snugly. This is especially beneficial for contact lens wearers because it offers additional protection from wind and dust.
- The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has established performance standards for selected eyewear. These are called ASTM F803–01 standards and are especially important for sports which carry a higher risk of injury, for example, racquet sports, baseball, basketball, women’s lacrosse, field hockey, and alpine skiing. (Read more https://www.techknowledge.me/files/theme/KC/ASTM/astm_standards2016.pdf). Make sure the eyewear you choose is compliant with these standards.
Wear a helmet or faceguard
These protective devices alone do not protect your eyes from blunt or penetrating injuries. However, in association with protective lenses, they can surely keep your eyes safe. Therefore, when playing sports that require a face mask, such as hockey, football, and lacrosse, make sure you wear eye protectors under the face mask.
One eyed athelete
If the best corrected visual acuity in the weaker eye is less than 20/40, an athlete is considered one eyed or monocular. If you are one eyed, you must discuss the risks of any sports before playing. Most doctors will ask you to never participate in very-high-risk sports such as boxing, wrestling, and contact martial arts.
This is also true in case you are recovering from eye surgery. First and foremost, your fitness to play any sport must be assessed. Thereafter, the doctor will also consider the risk of eye injury in your chosen sport.
What are the signs that require immediate attention from the eye doctor?
Any eye injury requires medical attention, however, these signs and symptoms indicate that you must seek immediate medical attention.
You must watch out for the following:
- Sudden decrease or loss of vision
- “Curtain” in front of eye with partial loss of field of vision”
- Painful eye movements
- Light sensitivity or photophobia
- Double vision
- Bulging eye ball, or eyeball sinking inside eye socket
- Flashes of light or floaters
- Foreign body in the eye
- Distortion of pupil shape
- Bleeding in eye or eye lid
- Any visible lacerations or globe rupture
This page is part of the Sports Hub. Please read more about Swimming with Glaucoma, Yoga, Weightlifting and Eye Pressure, Sports Related Eye Injuries, Cricket Injury and Glaucoma, and Badminton and Eye Injuries.
About the Author
This article was written by Dr Shibal Bhartiya, fellowship-trained glaucoma specialist and Mayo Clinic Research Collaborator, Clinical Director at Marengo Asia Hospitals, Gurugram, known for ethical, patient-centred glaucoma care and independent glaucoma second opinions. She is also the Program Director for Community Outreach & Wellness; and for the Marengo Asia International Institute of Neuro and Spine.
Dr Bhartiya has published peer-reviewed research onglaucoma management, examining how treatment decisions should balance medical evidence, patient preferences, and long-term vision outcomes. She is also a committed patient advocate and mainstream medical columnist, translating complex ophthalmic evidence into actionable public health insights across leading national platforms including NDTV and OnlyMyHealth
As Editor-in-Chief of Clinical and Experimental Vision and Eye Research and Executive Editor of the Journal of Current Glaucoma Practice (Pubmed Indexed, official journal of the International Society of Glaucoma Surgery), Dr Shibal Bhartiya brings editorial and research depth to every clinical decision. Her 200+ publications, including 90+ PubMed-indexed publications and 28 edited textbooks span glaucoma biology, surgical outcomes, health equity, and emerging diagnostics.
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Last Reviewed: October 2026